Factors Affecting Brand Image: The Case of Pepsodent in Danang, Vietnam

Trinh Le Tan¹;  Dao Thi Dai Trang²

Affiliation: Business Department, FPT University, Danang 550000, Vietnam¹;

Faculty of Accounting, Duy Tan University, Danang 550000, Vietnam²;

E-mail: letandtu@gmail.com¹; daitrangdtu@gmail.com²;

 

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to explore the relationship of brand extension, brand awareness, brand familiarity, customer attitude on brand image of one of the most famous toothpaste brand in Vietnam, Pepsodent.  These variables are  very important  aspects  of building strong  brand,  increasing profitability in the  more  and  more  competitive  market and/or upturn efficiency through  reducing marketing  costs. In this study a 5 point Likert scale questionnaire, consisting of 22 items, divided into five parts was designed. A total 200 questionnaires were distributed purposively conveniently in Danang, one of large city in Vietnam, and the  response  rate  was  100  %.  The  findings  show  that  variables  brand extension,  brand  awareness,  brand  familiarity; customer  attitude  contribute  to the  parent image after extension.

Keywords: Customer Attitude, Brand Familiarity, Brand Awareness, Brand Extension, and Brand Image.

 

I. INTRODUCTION

Brand is not only a way to differentiate a product or a firm from its competitors but also substantial for the future existence of a firm. In the very competitive market as now the differentiation is even more important in order a company to survive and take advantage of growth  and opportunities  (to increase profitability and reduce costs of marketing) (Keller 1993). Yet, as Srivastava and Shocker (1991) argued that the importance of brands is not only measured in terms of competitive advantage, it is also a future opportunities that silently available in the markets.  Nowadays, market is even more and more open globally those grounds competitive progressively. In this competitive situation and over changing customer needs  of  customers  the  marketing  managers  must  have  some  strategies  to  control  and manage brand image of their products.

Brand image is simply a result of an effort to put impression or a specific picture of the brand in the  consumers’  mindset.  The  brand  image  consists  of  beliefs  and  views (characters and values) about a specific brand and it is, for the most part, built to position customers’  perception  about  the  brand  means  to  them  and  how  they  accept  it (Bhasin, 2016).From their empirical studies Fianto et.al.(2014) and Bhasin (2016), revealed that brand image   have   significant   role   in   influencing   the   purchasing   behavior.   A  brand   that communicate unique values is even more important for companies’ existence in the market and, in turn, acquire the customers’ awareness and sustain their loyalty, and a brand which is widely  recognized  and  liked in  the  market  and  which  has  a  loyal customer  base,  is a significant financial asset for a company (Mirzai, 2016). However, a brand has more dimensions and elements or it means that a brand is more than a product. Brand encompasses  features such as personality, symbols and emotional benefits, therefore  to build a strong brand image a company could use the association (familiarity) between the features and the product, involve attitude and awareness of its consumers, and, in turn, the want to exert brand extension.

Brand extension  is a  way  or  a  strategy  (Martinez, 2011)  to  access  new  market through the existing brand with the intention to reduce the risk of failure and the costs of introduction of new products. Meanwhile, according to Klink and Smith (2001), the success and failure of brand extension absolutely depends on the consumer’s judgment. Therefore, the company must carefully considers its intention when it want to do brand extention because in this  strategy  beliefs  and  behaviors  of  consumers  associated  with  the  parent  brand  are transferred to the new product (Romeo, 1991). Besides, according to Martinez and Pina (2003) extension strategy does not proper for any brand, in addition the strategy may also generate both negative and positive impact towards parent brand. Further, Chen and Chen (2000) even argue that extension may harmfully affect the consumer attitude towards the parent brand image and brand extension itself. A successful brand extension strategy is one that strengthens the parent brand (Aaker, 1991), otherwise it most likely contributes negative impact and play role  as  root  cause  of  weakening  of  parent  brand  image.  Strong parent brand has great opportunity  to achieve abundant  financial rewards to the  company and has become  a top priority for many organizations (Keller, 2001). Davis and Baldwin (2006, p.29) argued that “it would be easier for a company to establish a new brand (brand extension) if the product or service of the company have already earned positive experience such as trust and credibility”. So, from the literature studies above we can conclude that there is no guarantee that a strong brand, include of toothpaste industry like Pepsodent, will certainly gain some positive benefits resulted from its brand extension. And also because one of the most important objectives of brand extension is to decrease the risk of new products’ failure after launching (Loken and Roedder-John,1993). Furthermore, a brand image as it is perceived by customers, that forms their  opinions  (awareness  and  familiarity), and  attitude  towards  the  brand,  needs  to  be examined regularly to know the current situation of the brand image. This is so because the results of the examination will serve as a very important basis for future marketing planning and marketing activities where marketing environment is ever changing over time.

Today is an era in which building brands is in fact very challenging, some barriers, both internal and  external  pressures  may  restrain  the  effort.  So, understanding   these pressures and barriers in building brands when making and developing brand strategies is exceptionally essential (Aaker 1995 pp. 28-34).

Pepsodent is the brand of a leading oral care product (toothbrushes and toothpaste) in Vietnam owned by Unilever. This company’s value share in the country improved slightly to 52% in 2015, and recently it has muscular investment in product innovation to sustain attention and bring about the capability of the company to meet consumers’ evolving needs. The  dentifrice  industry  in  Vietnam  has  grown  considerably  in  the  last  three  years  as population  growth,  increased  purchasing  power  and  increased  awareness  of  dental  care (ICN, 2011).As a consequence, there were several new brands of oral care products entering the market and produce the increased maturity of the basic products such as toothbrushes and toothpastes,  thus limiting overall growth  potential.  Yet the  value of oral care is still expected to constantly develop. Some factors such as healthy life awareness, the growing of disposable  incomes  and  elegance  will seize  up  the  prospect  through  the  capability and readiness of consumers to spend money for oral care products that offer higher and value- added  benefits and can expand overall oral hygiene. Mouth care product is one of basic needs the  customers  have and  is categorized  as convenience  goods.  The competition of product categorized as basic needs is widely open and therefore very intense. Pepsodent is a leading and well-known brand of toothpaste, toothbrush, and mouthwash in Vietnam where teeth care products are in very competitive industry (ICN, 2011). For example, Pepsodent (Unilever) and Close Up (Orang Tua) compete each other with various mouth care products. In addition, there are many other popular brands besides the two. They compete each other to build best brand image through customer attitude, brand familiarity, brand awareness, and brand extension. As a consequence,  in the very intense competition  to build a successful brand  image,  marketers  should  align  their  efforts  to  organizational  processes  that  help deliver the  promise to customers  by involving all company’s departments,  intermediaries, suppliers, etc., to create positive experience customers have with the brand. Based on the tight battle among the brands, it is interesting to explore the effect of customer attitude, brand familiarity, brand awareness, and brand extension toward brand image of Pepsodent in Danang.

This  study  is  completed  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  the  influence  of  brand extension. Since brand image may be seen as the result of brand familiarity, brand attitude, and brand awareness, this paper will also attempt  to scrutinize the simultaneous effects of the  combination  of  brand  extension  with  brand  awareness,  brand  familiarity and  brand attitude toward the parent brand image of the product of the object of this study.

 

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Brand Image

 

 Brand is the term, sign, symbol, design or combination of all of these that are intended to identify the product or service of a seller or group, which distinguishes the product/service from other products, especially rival products"(Kotler 1987, P 440). Brand is one of the most important part of a product. because brand can be an added value for the product either in the  form  of  goods  or  services, brand  also  is the  idea  behind  a  company’s  identity,  the impression people have of an organization, in addition brand is what you stand for, believe in,  behave  like,  and  how  you  are  perceived  by  those  that  conduct  business  with  an organization  or  otherwise  experience  interaction  with  organization.  Brand image is the current  view of  the  customers  about  a  brand.  It can be defined  as  a  unique  bundle  of organization.

Brand image itself is with reference to how a brand affects perception, views of society or consumers to the company or its products. Even so, a brand image takes time to build, because it’s defined by what others think about company/product (uniqueness or differentiation), and such impressions (be they positive or negative) take time to form and construct.

Brand image is the portrayal of the overall discernments of the brand and is shaped by the past information and experience of the brand, relates to an attitude of belief and preference for a brand. Consumers who have positive image of a brand will be more likely to make a purchase.  Setiadi (2003) argues:  brand image refers to the memory scheme  of a brand,  which  contains  a  consumer interpretation   of  the  attributes,  advantages,   uses, situations,  users,  and  characteristics  of  the  marketer   and  /  or  characteristics  of  the product/brand  maker or what  the  consumer  thinks and feels when  hearing  or seeing  the name of a brand. Kotler (2002: 225) states that the brand image is a requirement for building a strong brand and the image is a relatively consistent perception in the long run. It is not easy to form a brand image, but when already formed it will be difficult to change it. The image formed must be clear and convey an advantage when compared to its competitors. When the difference and the advantages of the brand is balanced by another brand, then emerged the need for brand positioning (to put unique perception in the mind of consumer). The more positive the description (positioning) the stronger the brand image and the more opportunities for brand growth (Davis, 2000). According to Aaker, brand image is regarded as "how brand is perceived by consumers".

Based on the description above it can be stated that brand image is what comes to consumers’ mind when a brand name is mentioned. Brand image can be regarded as a type of  association  of  consumers  thatemerges  in  mind  when  recalling  a  certain  brand.  The association can simply materialize in the form of thought  or image that is associated with particular  brands.It  can  also  happen   the  same  thing  when  thinkingofa  person.When callingthe  person’s  name,  we  will imagine  his/her  whole  attitude.  Kotler and  Amstrong (1997) state that the brand image is a set of confident consumers using various brands. This assertion is parallel with Hsieh, Pan & Setiono (2004) who argue that brand image helps consumer   recognizing   their   needs   and   satisfaction   regarding   the   brand   and it   also distinguishes the brand from competitors to stimulate customers to buy the brand. The result of brand image is the latent output of brand image related to consumer response to brand marketing (Ahmed, 2016). Further, Ahmed (2016) states that organizations use brand image to build a competitive advantage in the market that will enhance their overall image with long-term sustainability.

Consumer Attitude

Consumer attitudes consists of three elements: cognitive information, affective information, and information concerning a consumer's past behavior and future intentions, usually dealing with purchasing good or service. Consumers ‘attitude may be defined as a feeling of like or dislike or the  conviction (thinking or  belief) that  the  positive or  negative  association  or perception  towards  a brand is accurate  (DeVault, 2016).Colleens-Dod and Lindley (2003) argued that attitudes has positive relationship with brand image. However, a consumer who is completely familiar with a product, may have an unfavorable — or at best, neutral — attitude.  A consumer  who  has  a  positive  attitude  is more  likely to  buy  a  product.  For example,  a  consumer  has  a  very positive view of  a  particular  sports  car (he  believes it performs better than most), makes him feel good, and he intends to buy it. The belief of consumers about a seller, product or service affects whether and what they buy (Mott, 2017). In relation with a brand consumer attitude is the overall evaluations of the consumer toward the brand (Keller, 1993). If a brand carries out values held by customers, they most likely want to keep their positive attitude and stay loyal to the brand.

The attitude  may preserve even when the situations that produce it changes (Mott, 2016). Meanwhile customers’ attitude towards marketing activities and their beliefs about marketing  positively and  significantly influence  customer  satisfaction  but  the  effects  are dissimilar across the marketing mix (Chan and Cui, 2002). For example, advertising attempts to pose products such that so it seems associated with positive character and to neutralize beliefs that hinder the products' ability to attract buyers. (Moth, 2017).

In other words customer attitude is about a brand determining whether he/she will like the product, buy the product, become loyal by always repurchasing the product, etc. When a negative attitude happened,  it is almost unchangeable  and it usually leads to the avoidance of the brand by the consumer. Therefore, knowing consumer attitude toward a brand of product(s) means that the company also knows their position in the consumer mind. It is therefore that understanding customer attitude becomes advantages for the company in making  a  marketing  strategy  as the  company  already  figure  out  about  the  attitude  of consumers as well as the position of the products in the market. As a result, it could be simply said that the success of a marketing program depends on creating favorable brand associations (Keller, 1993) and these positive attitudes have a positive impact on product’s brand  image.  Fianto  et.al.  (2014)  argue  that  brand  image  significantly  influences  the purchasing behavior. Based on the statement above, the hypothesis that can be generated is:

H1: Customer Attitude has a positive influence on Product’s Brand Image

Brand Familiarity

Brand familiarity is a concept related to the amount  of time spent to process information about  the  brand,  regardless  of  the  type  or  content  of  the  processing  that  was  involved (Baker, 1986).  It is,  still according  to  Baker (1986),  the  most  basic  form  of  consumer knowledge and is context-independent  and is somewhat affected by advertising exposures, purchase  behavior,  and  product  consumption  or  usage.  Brand familiarity has a positive influence on brand image (Srivastava et.al., 2009).  How well a customer knows about a brand will show how familiar they are with the brand. Keller (1993) defines brand familiarity as  “the  number  of  product  related  to  experiences  that  have  been  accumulated  by  the consumers  (through  product  usage,  advertising, etc.)”. Any types of experiences with an exposure to  the  brand  increase  familiarity. Research showed  that  customers  tend  to  buy brands  that  they  are  familiar  with  rather  than  trying  the  new  one  (Laroche,  1996). Experiments showed that even if customers are shown some words that have no meaning and later they are motivated to “pick” the names that they like, most of them choose the nonsense words that they have been shown before (Aaker, 2004). Therefore, if a customer is familiar with the brand, this will have a positive effect on the product’s brand image.

H2: Brand Familiarity has positive influence on Product’s Brand Image

Brand Awareness

 

Brand awareness  may guide  consumers  to  save time  and  effort  which,  especially when dealing with an unknown brand, as the anchor to comparing the products in relation to other attributes,  such as quality, packaging  and  price. Brand awareness  may be  understood  as cognitive simplification, and  when  consumer  satisfied with the  brand  it play role as the reference in the next purchasing decision, particularly when the product is cheap and easily disposable (food, hygienic and every day-use products) (Koniewski, 2012).

Brand awareness has a positive significant influence on  brand  image  (Laroche, 1996). Brand awareness is defined as a critical dimension of brand equity when customers choose a brand for the first time. It is defined as “the ability of a potential buyer to recognize or recall that a brand is a member of a certain product of category”  (Aaker, 1991). If a customer recognizes a certain brand  name  or can recall it, the  brand  will have a higher chance of being selected than an unknown brand (Tam, 2008). It is created by the extent to which customers are familiar with the brand. Considering that brand awareness may result in brand  equity  in four  different  ways,  creating  a  brand  node  in consumers’  memory  will provide a sense of familiarity of the brand in the consumers’ mind, acting as a signal of trust in the brand and being enough reason for the consumer to consider the brand in his consideration set. Brand awareness is the result of consumer’s exposure to a brand (Alba & Hutchinson, J.W., 1987).When a consumer has an awareness of the brand; it will influence the brand image. Therefore, the hypothesis is:

H3:  Brand Awareness has a positive influence on the Product’s Brand Image

Brand Extension

Keller, (2008)  states  brand  extension  is a  new  product  development  method  using  pre- existing and established brands, so the company does not need to create another brand for the product. (Aaker and Keller, 1990) states that brand extension is when companies use existing and well-established brands in their original categories into new products.

Keller (2013) classify brand extensions into two categories, the first is the Extension

Line which is a brand extension strategy that offers new flavors, new compositions, new additions and can also offer different product sizes in the same category. While the second is a category extension which are brand extension strategies to target new market segments by creating new product categories different from pre-existing product categories.

Brand extension is a common strategy where a company  use  its reputable  brand names to enter new product categories or classes (Keller and Aaker, 1992, Keller, 2012). Brand extensions make possible new product reception and impart positive feedback to the parent brand and company (Kotler and Keller, 2012). When a company uses a well-known brand to introduce a new product, it is called a brand extension and brand extensions are a core marketing strategy for most companies.

Völckner and Sattler (2006), also argued that the parent brand’s and an extension product’s fit is the most important cause of brand extension success, then marketing support, parent-brand belief, retailer recognition, and parent-brand experience. Meanwhile Aaker and Keller (1999) discover, besides, if the  two product  classes fit, good  quality image of the original  brand  correlate  strongly  with  brand  extension,  that  the  success  of  the  product extension is also affected by the consumer’s belief that the applicability of skills and assets of the company in the original product class congruent with the extension.

In other words, brand extension has a positive significant influence on the brand image (Hameed et.al., 2014).For companies that treat their brands as assets; they are capable of launching new products under well-known brand names to improve their equity or use the brand extension as a growth strategy (Meyvis, et.al., 2012). However, Meyvis, et.al., (2012), suggest that careful consideration must be taken into account since brand extension not just brings practical advantages to businesses but it also, at the same time, may lead the company into failures.

One of the main advantages of using brand extensions is the reduction of communication and also advertising costs because the brand are already well-known in the market as a result of the synergies generated between experience and communication of any products of the firm (Erdem & B. Sun, 2002). Furthermore, brand extensions reduce the costs of brand name introduction and enhance the probability of success since consumers transfer their perceptions and attitudes from the original brand to the extension (Tauber, 1981; Aaker and Keller, 1990). Brand extensions can also have positive effects for the parent brand, in term of strengthening the brand meaning and helping the building of brand equity (Keller & Sood, S, 2003) and also encourage consumer purchasing decision of other products from the firm, particularly amongst  non-users of the  parent  brand.  When a company wants to do extension strategy it should make sure first that the image of the company is already good in the  market,  because  the  extension  most  likely influences  the  brand  image.  Then, the hypothesis proposed is:

H4: Brand Extension has a positive influence on Product’s Brand Image

Theoretical Framework

 

 

Figure 1. the Impact of Brand Extension on Parent Brand Image

(Saleem, Rashid, & Aslam , 2014).

III. METHODOLOGY

This research is similar with one done by Saleem et.al., in except that quantitative research and uses primary data. The population of this research is people who live in Danang, 17 years old and above. According to Sekaran, good sample size is between 50 - 500 (Sekaran,2003). Based on this criterium sample of this research involves 200 respondents.  A list of questionnaire is used to collect the data, and Likert Scale is used to measure the judgment of the respondents concerning the items of research variables in question.  Regression analysis was used to examine the data collected by using SPSS 21.0 to predict whether there was significant influence of customer attitude, brand familiarity, brand awareness, and brand extension toward brand image of Pepsodent in Danang. Validity and reliability test were conducted  to measure  whether  the research instruments were really able to measure the variables involved and to determine the level of consistency or stability of instruments used to measure.

IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Consumer Attitude

Results of  regression  analysis shows  that  all variables both  partially and  simultaneously (consumer  attitude,  brand  familiarity, brand  awareness,  and  brand  extension)  positively significantly influence brand image. However, if we take a closer look at individual contribution, consumer attitude provides the least

influence on the brand image. Since consumers’  attitude  may be  described  as a feeling  of  like or dislike, the  finding  of  the research may indicate that the positive feeling of consumers toward Pepsodent  is in risk, that, in turn, may lead consumers’ avoidance to buy the product. The finding may also mean that the belief of consumers toward the product has been eroded by something seriously, such as promotion of, the value or benefits offered by competitors products’ that resulted in the dilution of consumers attitude. In other words, the value of Pepsodent has been not fully met it customers expectation. If it is, in the next day, then consumers’ liking, intention to buy and loyalty may in problems.

TABLE 1

Results of Regression Analysis

Independent Variable	Standardized coefficient	Sig-t (p-value)	Partial Correlation (r)	Partial Correlation coefficient (r)
Constant	0.303
Consumer attitude (X1)	0.105	0.028	0.156	0.024
Brand Familiarity(X2)	0.315	0.000	0.488	0.238
Brand Awareness(X3)	0.285	0.000	0.372	0.138
Brand Extensions (X4)	0.270	0.000	0.405	0.164
F compute	216.540
Significance	0.000
Adjusted R Square	0.812

If we consider Theory of Reasoned Action, where consumers attitude is perceived has a very strategic role namely as one of the most essentials drive of consumer purchase decision, the findings of this research convey a message to Pepsodent to immediately salvage even increase the attitude of consumers toward the brand. The drive of the regaining effort of is even more important if Unilever (as the producer of Pepsodent) wishes for successfully extend the brand.

Improving consumers’  attitude  may  become  a  very strategic  step  since  positive attitude  influence  consumers’  awareness,  brand  familiarity and  also  brand  extension.  It means that improving attitude is likely would be the most strategic step that result in higher brand image and, therefore, the success of brand extension.

Knowing consumer  attitude  to  the  brand  of a  product  means  that  company  also recognizing their position in the consumers’ mind. This comprehension will become strategic advantages of the company in marketing strategy making because the strategy is grounded on clear portrait of consumer attitude and the position of the brand in the market. It means that attitude is a ground work to evaluate and to respond against an object that is assessed whether it is good or not by consumers. Consumers who had a positive attitude towards a product or brand, will cause them to have high brand image. This result are the same according to (Keller,1993) who explained that the higher consumer attitude will make the brand image increase. Respond to the questionnaire reveals that consumer attitude on Pepsodent only slightly above the average, meaning  that if the company does not do something  in the future, the brand attitude will soon be in the decline stage and cause the brand image decrease, then, in turn, will affect the decrease in the consumers’ intention to buy.

The Influence of Brand Familiarity toward Brand Image

Brand familiarity is a  construct  that  is directly related  to  the  amount  of  time  spent  for processing information about the brand, regardless of the type or content of the processing that was involved and brand familiarity is the most basic structure of consumer knowledge (Baker et.al., 1986).  Further, Baker et.al.  (1986) argue that this definition presumes  that brand familiarity is context-independent  and is affected  in more or less the same way by advertising exposures (that is also intended to form brand image), purchase behavior, and product consumption or usage. Brand image is the result of over time efforts of advertising campaigns  with  a  consistent  theme,  and  is  legitimated  through  the  consumers'  direct experience.  Brand image  refers to  consumer  perceptions  and  cover a set  of  beliefs that consumers  have  about  the  brand.  From the consumer’s  perspective,  a  brand  provides a visible representation of differences between products in a category.

The true value of a brand image lies in the mind of the target audience. It reflects the consumer’s awareness about the existence of the brand and its repeated exposure of the identity. Brand familiarity, or awareness and brand choice are tightly correlated  (Axelrod

1968;  Haley  and  Case  1979).  This  relationship  reflects  the  fact  that  choice  increases

familiarity, meaning that brand familiarity plays some causal role in the choice process, so the  more  a  consumer  is exposed  to  the  brands  the  better  the  image  and  the  more  the possibility that the consumer will choose the brand.

The result of this research proved that brand familiarity has positive significant - contribute the  largest - influence on brand image. As mentioned above that  the  level of familiarity has important implication to the consumers. The implication is that products that have  high  familiarity  will  have  more  advantages   to  reach  a  positive  response  from consumers. They will have more consumers’ attention and if the company communicate its brand through advertising for example, it will retain in the consumer minds, and increase brand image. This result is in line with Broniarczyk & Alba (1994) who uncover that brand familiarity has a significant positive impact to the brand image.

The organization can, through its branding strategies and advertising messages (to build brand familiarity), seek to convey a certain image for the Pepsodent brand. Thing to be kept in mind is that consumers may, however, evaluate the company’s message through the prism of their own subjectivity. People will use their own interpretations and will respond differently to brands. This subjective evaluation results in the formation of brand image in the mind of the consumer.

The Influence of Brand Awareness toward Brand Image

The word "brand", can refer to a company name, a product name, or a unique identifier such as a logo or trademark. Brand awareness is formed when people easily recognize a brand for what it is. However,  this  does  not  automatically  mean  they  prefer  that  brand  (brand preference), connect a high value to, or associate any superior attributes to it, it just means they recognize the brand and can identify it under different conditions. In other words, brand awareness is not everything. Brand awareness is, indeed, really important for all brands but high  brand  awareness  without  an  understanding  of  what  puts  you  apart  (specific  and valuable image) from the competition does you practically no good. Interestingly, however, effective brand awareness shows the power of brand compared to others. Brand awareness will push consumers to the level of brand image.

Consumers will prefer buy known quality and secure products, meaning that brand awareness will reduce risks (or increase the possibility to attain satisfaction) the consumers may face when they buy a product.  All of these  may result  in trust  of  the  consumers. Increasing  the  awareness  is  a  mechanism  to  expand  the  market  share  of  the  brands. Awareness also affects their perception and attitude. Brand awareness is the key of brand assets to enter the other elements: brand image.

Therefore, the creation of consumer awareness or perceptions concerning a brand is a crucial strategic decision facing brand managers.  It must be remembered  that  brand managers  are  not  merely promoting  a physical good  or service, rather  they  promote  an image.  A  brand’s  image  is  a  combination  of  a  consumer’s  subjective  awareness  or perceptions of the product’s innate characteristics. The key success of a brand is determined by how closely the image of the selling organization and the product meet the expectations of the consumer.

The result of this research  is the  same as Alba & Hutchinson, J.W. (1987) who found that brand awareness has a significant positive impact to the brand image. However, the finding of this research concerning brand awareness of Pepsodent only proves slightly above the average. This means that the brand most likely already been in the maturity stage or even tends to be in declining one or because of the competition of tooth paste industry is becoming more and more intense. As a consequence, the producer of Pepsodent must plan to take some actions to keep or even increase the awareness of consumer so that the brand image of Pepsodent stays strong because  brand awareness is an important prerequisite to make consumer always re-purchase the products.

The Influence of Brand Extension toward Brand Image

Brand extension is introducing a new product with the same brands that is already mature in the market, where the new product may or may not have different line from the existing products in the market. Brand extension is one of the marketing strategies to expand the market coverage because brand extension is produced from the parent brand that is already known in the market. The result of this research proved that brand extension has a positive significant influence on the brand image. This finding is in line with Swaminathan, Vanitha, Fox, Richard J., &Reddy, Srinivas K., (2001) who  concluded  that  brand  extension  has a significant positive impact to the  brand image. However, data  from questionnaire  of this research  only confirms that  brand  extension  score  of  Pepsodent  only slightly above  the average, meaning that when the company does the brand extension strategy it should do it cautiously because  brand  extension  also  possible brings about  negative  effect  on  parent brand image. The company should put much concern on the efforts that make the extension is acceptable and noticeable because the brand extension will influence the brand image. This is so because Arslan et.al. (2010), found that brand extensions have negative effect on the product brand image, whereas the fit between the parent and extension brands decreases the negative effect. The drop of image as a result of extension increases when the perceived image and quality of the parent brand are higher. Perceived quality of the brand, consumers’ brand familiarity, fit perceived by the consumer, consumers’ attitudes towards the extension have a positive effect on the product brand image after the extension. Fortunately, with the parent brand that is already well-known in the market, consumers will reduce the risk of getting bad quality products and the company will be easier to get trust from the consumers.

V. CONCLUSION

Research results demonstrate   that   all variables  involved,  i.e.  customer   attitude,   brand familiarity,  brand  awareness,  and  brand  extension  provides  a  positive  and  significant influence on parent brand image. However, the effects of them are vary, where consumer attitude just contribute the less among the others. Since attitude has very important role in consumers’ buying decision, the companies have to take immediate action(s) to improve it in order to regain consumers’ attitude toward Pepsodent. This action most possibly results in the improvement of brand awareness, brand familiarity and brand extension, and in turn will also develop brand image. In other words it can be said that among the four variables consumer attitude  should be in the first priority to be improved. If consumer attitude  increase most likely brand  image  will also  be  better.  If brand  image  is stronger  than  brand  extension probably successful and may even improve brand image itself.

It is also because of the competition situation is becoming harder and harder, where communication  from  other  toothpaste  brands  may  hinder  the  awareness  of  consumers toward  Pepsodent  and  also  the  amount  of  other  toothpaste  products  in  the  market  is increasing, as a consequence, the efforts of keeping consumers’ awareness and familiarity on Pepsodent  has  no  place  to  ignore.  It means  that  when  Pepsodent  want  to  plan  and implement brand extension it needs to elaborate brand attitude, brand awareness, and brand familiarity in its plan. Statistical analysis proofs the result of the collaboration of the variables in influencing parent brand image.

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